Darryl Zanuck

When Darryl Zanuck decided to bring top class croquet to the West Coast, he did it with the same fierce drive to succeed which has so characterized his entire career whether film maker, Army officer, polo player, or chemin-de-fer enthusiast. Shirtless to the waist, the wiry and intense Zanuck would roar across the lawn in Beverly Hills or Palm Springs, a cigar in his mouth almost as large as the croquet mallet he carried. Zanuck's driving attack on the game helped bring many fine West Coast players into it and stars, directors, and writers in Hollywood became afficiaonados. Zanuck's sense of drama carried him through his croquet and his court in Palm Springs had a fountain in the center as an obstacle.

Darryl Zanuck was inducted into the United States Croquet Hall of Fame in 1979.